Ines is already waiting for me. She is sitting cross-legged on her bed. She looks even paler in the moonlight. The new girl in the bed next to her is asleep. I can only see her hair. I have a brief pang of jealousy. But Ines’s face lights up when she sees me. I am Elly. I’m wearing her clothes, the wig itches on my head. Silently, I extend a hand to Ines. Like sleepwalkers we wander out of the hospital. The porter is watching television. He doesn’t see us. No one stops us. Barefoot, we walk along the street. We walk as far as the river and stare at the dark water. A flat barge goes by. Ines remains silent. She doesn’t need to say anything. I know it too. She has definitely stood here before, or maybe on another bank. She was holding a girl’s hand then too. But she must have returned alone. We don’t speak. Ines squeezes my hand. As I make a move towards the bank, she holds me back. I drag her on. I’m stronger than Ines and healthy. She has to follow. The quay wall is high; the black water slaps against it. Over the waves, I hear Ines breathing heavily. She is sniffling. Tears run down her face. I stop just before the edge. My queen dies on this quay. But Ines and I, we stand there. We wait for the sun to come up. It’s just her and me. No one else is there.